A Little Meddling Never Hurt
by PerverseLeigh
Summary: Triple cross over. Dr. Who/Sherlock/Serenity The Doctor takes Sherlock on his first outing to a new planet and they meet up with his old friends, the crew of Serenity.
1. Chapter 1

**Let me start this by saying I love these wonderful characters, but I own nothing. Sherlock, The Doctor and the entire Serenity Crew are all someone else's money-makers ;)**

**}~ }~ }~**

"... And don't think too loudly!" The Doctor admonished as Sherlock opened the TARDIS door onto the pastoral scene.

"Really." Sherlock muttered under his breath.

The air outside was cool and smelled of mouldering grass. The ground crunched dryly under the soles of his shoes and the cloudless sky was a brilliant shade of aquamarine.

Sherlock took in the wondrous sights of his first new world... It was really rather boring. The Doctor hadn't even set them down near a town.

Sherlock's head snapped up as the sky started emitting a deep growling rumble and he spotted a vehicle in the sky surrounded by steam and ozone. He presumed it had just entered the atmosphere and was readying to land. He watched the ship bear across the sky, lifting his chin and turning in place to follow it's trail as it passed directly over head. Quizzically, the ship seemed to take notice of the TARDIS as they passed.

"AH!" The Doctor exclaimed as he came up beside Sherlock, "There they are!"

About a half hour later the two men were standing in front of an aerodynamically improbable space ship, waiting for all the hissing, grinding and clanking to settle so the crew could disembark.

The Doctor had his hands stuck into his coat pockets and was rocking back and forth on the sides of his feet, grinning from ear to ear. None of his mild antics, however, could distract Sherlock from absorbing every last detail of the land-fall and grounding.

At long last the outer cargo bay door started it's achingly slow descent, groaning and complaining the entire time. The loading ramp settled onto the rocky dirt with a heavy, crunching thud and the inner bay doors whirred open to reveal most of the crew waiting to disembark.

Sherlock blinked rapidly as one of the crew members started squealing loudly and launched herself at The Doctor, a brown-and-pink blur of grease cover girl. The Doctor opened his arms just in time to catch the flying mechanic and returned her bear hug with equal enthusiasm.

"See, Cap'n?" The girl said in an odd accent, "I told ya he'd pop up soon!"

"That ya did, Kaylee," The Captain agreed, "And with company in-tow." The Captain looked Sherlock over then stuck out his hand. "Captain Malcolm Reynolds, at your service."

"Sherlock Holmes." He replied, clasping the Captain's hand and giving it one firm pump before releasing it.

The Captain shooed Kaylee back toward the ship then opened his arms wide to herd the Doctor and Sherlock further to the side of the ramp. "My crew will be sure to introduce themselves once their work is done, but for now I'll ask you two just to stand clear of the ramp so you don't get knocked about any." The statement was made with authority, but not intended as a rude demand. Captain Reynolds obviously cared about his guests' welfare and was just as obviously comfortable with people following his lead.

While Kaylee, a tall, thin, dark woman and a stocky, gruff looking man slung crates into the the back of a rickety transport an elegantly clad man with dark hair escorted a regal woman with olive skin down the ramp to greet the Doctor.

The woman gave the small, self assured but unemotional smile of the well affected while the man's smile was slightly more timid.

"Doctor!" The woman took the lead, authoritative, "It's so nice to see you again!"

"Ah! Inara!" The Doctor took the artfully upheld hand, kissed it, then lifted it over her head and turned her about as if she were a child in a new dress rather than a professional entertainer. She giggled and her face lit up like Christmas. "This is my friend, Sherlock. Sherlock, this is the lovely Inara accompanied by Doctor Simon Tam."

Sherlock gave doctor Tam another of his perfunctory handshakes along with a nod and kissed Inara's hand with a calculatedly dashing smile.

Sherlock and the Doctor waited patiently for fifteen minutes before the grizzled man drove the cargo transport down the ramp and onto the dirt of the makeshift landing pad.

The tall, dark woman walked over to greet them, "Doctor," She stripped the leather gloves off her hands and held one out, but the Doctor tugged her into a quick hug, "And I hear you're Sherlock...?" Always glad to meet someone who paid attention to details, Sherlock took her proffered hand firmly in his.

"Where is your lovely husband?" The Doctor asked. All motion ceased for a split second before people found elsewhere to do their tasks. The Doctor looked stricken to the core, smile melted from his lean face. For a moment his mouth hung open, before he quietly murmured, "Oh, Zoe... I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault, Doctor." Zoe said after giving herself an almost visible shake. She cleared her throat. "You weren't here when..."

"Reavers." Said a small feminine voice from the mouth of the cargo bay. "Five years ago, last month. It was very sad. Kaylee cried."

As Zoe found elsewhere to be, Sherlock looked up at the young woman standing at the top of the ramp. Her brown hair was cut in a serviceable but comley style, her dress was a little well worn but of a cut that flattered her nubile figure and printed in colors that brought out the gold hues in her brown eyes, she had no shoes or socks. Sherlock caught himself before he could frown.

"Don't need shoes in The Black, Sherlock." The girl told him. She knew his name, but he was sure she hadn't been anywhere near until a moment ago.

The Doctor caught his attention. "You're thinking a little too loud, my friend." he held out his hand to the girl who silently glided down the ramp, took his hand and pressed it to her cheek. "This is River Tam, Simon's younger sister. River, meet Sherlock Holmes."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but the girl cut him off. "Alliance got him. Tried to make it look like Reavers did it. We brought the Reavers to the Alliance. They'll never forget what Reavers are. Wash didn't make it. Punched a hole in his leaf." She was talking about two different people, now. Killed by two different factions.

She turned toward Sherlock and took his hand in both of hers. She ran her thumbs over the back of his hand before flipping it over to smooth her fingers over his palm. She rubbed her soft cheek against his knuckles then patted his hand and dropped it. "Nice to meet you Mister Holmes." Out of the corner of his eye Sherlock saw the large man who had not been introduced falter a step then change course to intercept the trio as they meandered up the ramp to the cargo bay.

"Hain't you got pilot-ee stuff to do, moon-brain?" He asked the girl in a low voice that set Sherlock's teeth on edge but she just laughed, a tinkling, melodic giggle.

"Haven't you got mercenar'ee stuff to do, Jayne?" she asked him back, mocking his accent and vocal tones almost perfectly, but a pitch higher.

"Now, Now!" Captain Reynolds admonished the two, as if they were bickering children. "Do I need to separate the two of you?"

"No Captain!" River quickly replied, "Jayne was just leaving. Got better things to do than stand around letting a fong luh girl make fun of him." Sherlock could sense tension between the two. Tension that wasn't quite sexual, but not exactly familial either.

Jayne walked into the ship grumbling something under his breath.

River slipped her arm around Sherlock's and trapped his in the crook of her elbow. He looked at their linked arms with raised brows but said nothing.

"Come now, Detective," River purred at him, "Would you like to explore the town? Buy a girl a drink?"

"Sherlock..." The Doctor tried to get his attention with the 'I should tell you...' tone in his voice.

"FAHNG-Sheen, Doctor!" River waved off whatever he was about to tell Sherlock, "Ni fei hua!" She gave the men a dazzling smile.

"I'll just tag along, then." The Doctor gave her an equally bright smile and positioned himself at her other side.

}~

The walk into town wasn't as long as Sherlock had originally thought and he was occupied by chatting to the Doctor and River with her oddly accented English and Chinese mix. She caught onto his manner of speech very quickly and seemed to know more about him than she would have liked to let on.

They crested one more hill and below them, spread along the edge of a plains region filled with blue and brown grasses that gently swayed in the breeze like a calm sea, was a ramshackle village of clapboard buildings, loose livestock and swaggering people.

"Well! Here we are!" The Doctor exclaimed and started down the hill into town.

River heaved a sigh and frowned at the Doctor for just a second before rearranging her face into a bright smile and glancing at Sherlock out of the corner of her eye. "Don't miss much, do you?" She asked him.

"Not often." He dryly confirmed her odd query and they set off down the hill after the Doctor.

The town, up close, looked a little more shabby than it did from afar. The roads were packed dirt with boardwalks along the sides connecting all the buildings so the people of this poor town wouldn't have to tromp through the mud when it rained.

The Doctor decided to browse the local General Store so River and Sherlock followed him into the small shop. Sherlock stopped just inside the door to let his eyes adjust and River let go of his arm to browse with the Doctor. Sherlock found himself oddly entranced by this waif of a girl as she walked around the room with a small smile on her full lips. She ran a finger along a porcelain plate and stroked the handles of a post-holer. Her eyes flicked to him then back down to her own hands.

"It's rude to stare..." She murmured, suddenly shy, "Not shy... Just, watched." Her eyes flicked to him, then to the store keep and back to her hands. The store keep had been watching them with almost a glare since they stepped over the threshold and it was making her uncomfortable. Sherlock stepped up to her and offered her his elbow.

"Would you like that drink, now?" He smiled down at her and she returned his grin with a relieved sigh and a nod. She took his arm, tucking hers neatly into the crook of his so he could lead her back out onto the street. The Doctor looked up from the piece of memorabilia he was inspecting as the two left the shop so he was still looking at the door when Jayne walked in and looked about.

"Jayne! My man!" The Doctor got his attention. "What would a fellow like you be doing in a place like this?"

"I, uh..." The Doctor waited for the burly man to come up with a good enough lie. "Mal sent me for kitchen supplies." He finally supplied.

"Oh?" The doctor quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, uhm, some food-stuffs."

"Alright, then!" The Doctor smiled brightly at the lad. "Let's see the list. I'll help you fill it."

"List?" The poor guy looked so confused, it was almost painful.

"A list of supplies you need?" The Doctor clarified. "I bet, you've forgotten it."

"Uh, yeah..." Jayne seemed to want to be anywhere but in the store.

"Not to worry!" The Doctor almost laughed at Jayne's transparency. "I'm sure Mal only sent you as a joke. I bet he sent Kaylee and Zoe with the list."

"How do you-" Jayne stopped talking as he heard Kaylee's voice flitter into the store. "Oh."

"Well, how about us boys go get a drink?" The Doctor couldn't resist.

"Now that I can do." Jayne agreed heartily.

** }~**

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

The public house was dark and musty on the inside, holding only a couple of patrons at the bar and sitting at tables, none of whom gave them more thought than slight curiosity at their arrival.

Sherlock held the double hinged door open for River; a courtesy she wasn't used to anymore. No one had opened doors for her since she was a little girl. Sherlock wasn't treating her like a child, though. Not like Simon always was, either; like she's damaged and can't do things. No, this Sherlock fellow wasn't thinking she was anything but an intriguing woman. He liked figuring things out, so she let him see just enough to pique his curiosity; giving him hints but letting him mull her over like a girl-shaped puzzle.

The barkeep was only mildly interested in them. No more than what they wanted and how much they could pay. River had slipped some credit notes and a few coins into Sherlock's pocket before they entered the bar as he realised that he hadn't anything that he could spend on her drinks. He had given her a startled look as he heard the jingling in his own pocket when she patted it.

"What'll it be?" The barkeep asked briskly.

"Jing Tsai Tea comes from these parts...?" River spoke up, falling into an approximation of Kaley's accent and the bartender nodded. "I suppose I'd like that."

"Two, please." Sherlock also watered his weird accent down. The man behind the bar shrugged and set two tall glasses on the bar, scooped some ice into both and filled them from a bottle that he brought out from under shelves at the back bar.

Sherlock tossed down a couple of credit notes, made an ambiguously swirling hand motion and grabbed both glasses. The keep scooped up the money, looked at the notes and shoved the bottle of tea at them. River grabbed the bottle from the edge of the bar before it could tip over and turned from the bar toward the tables at the back.

"Shall we sit?" Sherlock offered, opening his arms wide and gesturing with one tea glass filled hand at the shabby tables.

River nodded and carried the tea bottle into a more secluded nook of the lounge.

}~

The Doctor strode through the door in front of Janye like he owned the gorram place. Jayne rolled his eyes and strode over to the bar.

"Beer." Jayne told the barkeep as he slapped down a large credit note. "An keep it commin." The barkeep plopped two tall glasses onto the bar and filled a pitcher with a pale gold liquid as Jayne took a stool and the Doctor followed suit.

"Ahh..." The Doctor sighed after he took a long sip of his beer. "Beer. You know this reminds me of this one time..." The doctor told a story about drinking beer with a couple 'mates' then continued with another story about something or other. He talked on and on while Jayne drank, not listening. Jayne only sat with the guy coz he didn't think Jayne was a complete moron like the rest of them did.

"...and then it just... Blew up!" The Doctor finished another story with his arms wide away from his body and a noise that was supposed to sound like an explosion.

"Doc!" Jayne had finally had enough. "Don't you ever shut yer pie hole?"

"Not usually..." The Doctor frowned at Jayne's rude question, "But I suppose a drink in comfortable silence can be arranged."

"Good." Jayne took a long swig of his tepid beer and enjoyed the silence a spell.

Not two minutes later the silence was broken by a laugh. The laugh that he knew all too well. He twisted his body around so as to look behind him and saw River was sitting with that Sherlock _hwun dan_. He was grinning all big-like and saying something to her that had her giggling and covering her face.

He felt his eyes squint into a glare and he thought real hard at her: '_Dammit girl. I know you can hear me drinkin here. Yer doin that on purpose.'_

A vague sense of amusement floated through his brain as River giggled again. The Sherlock guy's eyes flicked to Jayne, he leaned forward and said something to River who twisted in her seat to smile too sweetly and wave at Jayne. Jayne fought hard to relax his face and jutted his chin at them by way of greeting then returned to his beer and chugged the entire glass in one.

"Hmmm..." The Doctor had watched the whole thing. "I thought you didn't like her at all. But! I've been known to be wrong on a few occasions."

"Y'ain't wrong, this time, Doc." Jayne poured another glass of beer. "Tell me another tale."

}~

It was late in the evening when a sudden jolt of fear brought Sherlock's head up. He wasn't in danger, but there was still fear. The fear, oddly enough, felt as though it was coming from an outside source.

River had gone to powder her nose about five minutes ago but had yet to return. The sound of a stool scraping across the floor caught Sherlock's attention and he swiveled his head around to see that the Doctor was alert and looking about the room but Jayne was already headed toward the women's latrine.

Sherlock stood up quickly, knocking his chair over but not stopping to right it. He darted out the front door and followed a narrow alley around to the back of the building where he found four men holding each of River's limbs as she wriggled wildly trying to shake one off.

"_HEY!_" he heard Jayne yell from the door the men had dragged River out of. They all looked back the way they came and Sherlock used the distraction to make his move.

He trotted up to the nearest man, one who held River's left arm and shoulder and shoved his elbow, hard, into the back of the man's neck. He dropped like a stone. Sherlock kicked him in the head, to make sure he wouldn't get up.

Jayne caught up with them then. While River was grabbing at the man who had her right arm and drawing his hands toward her face, Jayne was grabbing the man who held her right leg by the scruff of the neck and spun him around.

River bit the man who still had her arm hard enough that he screamed. Sherlock glanced at the man, satisfied to see he was now gushing blood from his forearm, before engaging the fourth foe.

Sherlock slammed his fist into the man's nose and felt it crunch under his knuckles then absorbed a clumsy haymaker to the gut. Sherlock downed the man with an elbow to the throat and an upper-cut under the ribs then a knee to the chin as the man doubled over.

He heard Jayne's sparring partner "WHOOF" as he was shoved onto Jayne's knee then turned in time to see Jayne throw the poor bastard into a wall where he stood for a moment before sliding down and toppling over.

Both men turned as one toward River just in time to see her execute a perfect flying knee strike to the man's chin by using his own knee as a springboard then twist to the side and fall to the ground rolling away from her opponent, toward Jayne and Sherlock.

Jayne scanned the alleyway as Sherlock bent to help river off the ground. They all heard the _KAH-CHACK _of a shot gun being cocked as River pulled herself up on Sherlock's arm.


	3. Chapter 3

**As always, I own none of this... Shame...**

* * *

The portly owner of the general store was standing beside the barkeep the latter having his shotgun trained on the trio in the alleyway. The fellow who lay crumpled on the ground by the wall started to groan but the other three were still out cold.

Sherlock peered at the exceptionally bright girl who still clung to his arm, pressing her heated body into his side as she started to laugh hysterically.

"We'll be takin that handful of a wench off your hands, now, fellas."

"Over my dead body!" Jayne growled at the same time Sherlock declared a simple, forceful, "NO." and pulled her closer to him. She was still shaking like a leaf but he could feel no fear coming from her, instead there was a sense of preparedness and competence about her.

She clasped her small, warm hand over his wrist and gave it a short, firm squeeze. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye then shifted his weight, preparing for whatever it was that she was planning on doing. Her personality had shifted dramatically from the light hearted, slightly off balanced, type B personality that had enjoyed the attention he had lavished upon her to the professional, firm, type A that clung to him now as a ruse, pretending to be frightened to buy time before she struck.

She squeezed his wrist again, twice in succession, some sort of signal. He mentally prepared for the worst. She then looked at Jayne and caught his eye. Jayne gave a half-smile smirk as if there was some private joke between the two of them and nodded ever-so-slightly.

"We can arrange there to be dead bodies," The man with the gun said, "If'n that's what you boys want."

}~

The Doctor wasted no time. When the barkeep had ducked into a room at the back of the tavern the Doctor stepped over to the com unit at the end of the bar and pulled out his screwdriver. He had the simple communications unit tweaked to the right frequency in about three seconds and he signaled out to Serenity.

A sleep fogged Kaylee answered the com and informed him that the Captain and Zoe were already on their way to collect the wayward crew. He disconnected the line and dashed out the front of the establishment.

From an alley that lead behind the building, the Doctor could hear sounds of fighting but he ran in the other direction, toward where the ships were grounded. He had ran the short distance to the edge of town when he nearly bowled Mal and Zoe over in his haste.

"Whoa, there, Doctor!" The Captain put a hand on the Doctor's chest to steady his rapid stop. "Where are you headed to in such an all-fire hurry? Where's your friend?"

"Fighting." The Doctor was already turned and running back the way he came, "Someone is trying to take River!" He yelled back over his shoulder.

He ran back through town with Mal and Zoe hot on his heels. They got to the saloon but it was ominously quiet. Then they heard a surprised yelp, and a shotgun blast. Zoe dashed down the alley, pistol drawn, while Mal and the Doctor ran through the bar to the doors at the back.

}~

The alley had gotten very narrow, all sudden-like. Jayne knew that River was about to go all crazy killing machine on these two any moment now, but he was also aware of that shotgun pointing in his direction. The loaded, cocked and ready-to-fire shotgun. He shifted his weight away from the doorway;his hopes were set on throwing himself out of the way of the shot blast once the kidnapper killin got underway.

"No, it's ok." River seemed to answer his thoughts, "I'll go with you. Please don't shoot my friends?" Jayne couldn't help but roll his eyes... Not this again.

The girl strutted up to the bar keep, pretty as you please. She suddenly grabbed the barrel of the gun with her left hand and pushed it right up into the Black. Completely unbalanced by her sudden offencive, the barkeep yelled and discharged the gun into the air.

Jayne started moving before the smell of gunpowder and River's burnt flesh hit his nose. She had pulled her hand in, tucking her left arm around her body, under her breasts and was giving the fat store owner a hard shove-kick to the chest, pushing him back on his rear into the building. She stepped back and turned about-face to press her back against the building's outer wall, letting Sherlock dash inside around her.

Jayne hopped the limp body in front of him and tackled the barkeep about the middle slamming him into the door post then pushing him to the ground. He lifted the man up by the shoulders and slammed him down on the wood flooring to daze him. The man's eyes rolled up into his head and he was still.

The store keep crawled across the floor, scrabbling for the shotgun while unsuccessfully dodging several brutal kicks to the ribs from Sherlock's pretty-boy shoes. Just as the fat man got his chubby hands on the gun Jayne heard the heavy click and high-pitched whine of Mal's favorite gun cocking.

"Now, ya wouldn't be lookin'a hire my pilot away from me, would ya?" Mal's tone was the one that Jayne only liked hearing when it wasn't being aimed at him.

"We ain't got nothin to do with yer pilot!" The fat man yelled. "A couple of my boys just got a lil carried away tryin'a impress the girl, 's all!"

"Iz'at right...?" The Captain asked sarcastically to no one in particular.

"No." River's giggle, had a nasty sound to it, "She'll make a good maid! Bare a passle a babies, she will!" She mocked her former captors. Her tone was a dark growl and she spit on the keep.

"Now I've never claimed to know what goes on in as woman's head," Mal quipped, looking to River, "Least of all a crazy one. But, seems to me that girl don't wana be a baby barin slave."

While Mal talked, Zoe had come up the alley and stood behind the fat man. With Mal's last words Zoe pistol whipped the sucker in the back of the skull, knocking him out cold.

The Doctor had appeared, out of nowhere after all the fighting was done and now had River by the wrist, waving that noisy blue screwdriver thing around in the air over her burnt palm.

"The tissues are pretty damaged," The Doctor was stating the obvious, again. "But I think I have something in the TARDIS that'll fix you right up."

River shrugged noncommittally and took Sherlock's arm again, before turning and walking back toward the ships. Jayne couldn't help but glare after them. Endorphins... Gorramit.

The Captain slapped Jayne on the back, acknowledging a job well done and breaking off Jayne's death glare before he could bore holes in Sherlocks back. They all headed out of town before the authorities found them standing over the would-be kidnappers.

}~

**What do you think so far? Drop me a line and tell me! I always reply.**

**This is in the same universe as my "Death Dance" and actually comes after that one so I highly recomend reading that short too! **


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor watched River as he smeared an analgesic laced restorative cream over the ugly blistered burns on the palm of her hands. She winced and grimaced a little but made no noise.

In the dark recesses of his mind, protected by carefully constructed mental shielding, he marveled at her. In the five or six short years that had passed for her since he had seen her last her mind seemed to have stabilized freeing her brain to grow in it's capacity to understand the flow of other mental energies... In short when she fixed whatever was wrong with her, she became a better psychic. She could even read his surface thoughts now, and project her feelings to others.

He finished slathering the salve on her palm and the under side of her wrist then wrapped it lightly in a soft, absorbent gauze. She took her hand back and flexed it slightly, grimacing.

"That'll have to do." She said, more to her own hand than to him. "Thank you, Doctor."

He nodded at her and she turned away from him, walking toward the outer door. She opened the door a crack, turned back to him and winked then walked out and took Sherlock's arm leaving Jayne standing in front of the TARDIS looking as if she'd took his favorite gun and refused to give it back.

'Well that's certainly interesting...' The Doctor thought as the TARDIS door swung shut, closing out Jayne's disgruntlement.

"I've been meaning to ask you-" River cut Sherlock off before he could finish.

"My whole life." She replied to his unfinished question. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be hearing other people's thoughts, when I was younger. Then I went to the Academy and they tricked us. Cut into my brain, trained me to... torture, all of it."

Sherlock absorbed the disturbing information as they walked further out, away from the ships. She wasn't that old now, she couldn't have been much more than a child when this 'Academy' had her in their collective clutches. For a normal child it would have been seriously damaging. For a child who was extra sensitive it should have broken her, which was no doubt what they had intended, but the woman who stood beside him was hardly broken. She was someone who had used her experiences, good and bad, to become a stronger person. Intelligent and strong, she used her telepathy to give herself and her compatriots an advantage instead of turning into the soulless killing machine she was trained to.

She stopped their meandering progress through the scrub brush just past the crest of a low hill and made to sit on the dirt. Without thinking, he stripped off his overcoat and lay it on the ground. He could barely make out her smile in the starlight.

They settled down on his coat and she pointed toward the sky. Above them, backed by unfamiliar constellations, meteors started to fall into the atmosphere burning long white streaks into the inky night sky.

He felt her head lean onto his shoulder and the smell of olive oil and apples drifted up to his nose along with her rich scent. He tilted his head down, nuzzling the top of her head and breathing in deeply, to take in more of the intoxicating smell. Of impulse he dropped a peck on to her scalp. The feel of her silky hair against his lips stirred up other feelings in him. Not unfamiliar or unpleasant feelings, but different than times before.

She squirmed beside him, scuttling closer so she could press her hip against his and tuck her shoulder under his arm. She settled her head in the hollow of his shoulder and rubbed her cheek against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her slight, muscled frame and held her to him, enjoying the closeness.

She breathed in deeply then heaved a labored sigh. The action pushed her pert breasts against his arms and her breath pushed his shirt against his chest, tickling the hair there. she turned her face toward him expectantly and he obliged with a light peck on the lips. She stole another, stronger kiss; then a longer, deeper one. At some point before she let him up for air he realized that he wanted her. Badly.

River knew what he wanted. Knew that he'd never ask for it, being brought up by a mother who expected more than she should have. She responded to his feelings, in kind. Pushing him back, gently then quickly unbuttoning his shirt. She ran her fingers through the soft, golden brown hair scattered across his pectorals and breast bone. His skin was smooth under her fingers; firm, with goose flesh starting to rise. He shivered a little and she giggled.

"Is it cold, for a city boy, mister Holmes?" She teased him in a childish voice and bit her lower lip. She was taking a chance, teasing him. She didn't always know how people would react, she just pretended to so people would feel better about the crazy girl taking lead.  
"Hmmm..." He pulled her to him, wrapping her up with his arms and rubbing his cheek against the top of her head. "Just a little."

"We should make sure you don't go into hypothermic shock." She said in mock seriousness. "The Doctor would be very upset."

"Yes," Sherlock chuckled and ducked his head to kiss her neck. "He would be very put out at having to fix it." His lips moving against the hollow under her ear sent tingles down her spine. She could feel him smile against her skin.

"Do you have any ideas as to how we're going to keep warm?" She slipped her arm around his back and ran her nails along the skin at the top edge of his trousers waistband.

"You know what I think?" He quipped. Sherlock lifted his face to hers again and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Yes, I know." She knew very well.

}~


	5. Chapter 5

**I owe all of my readers an apology for this installment being sooooooo late. I needed time to process how these characters would react to the situation :) I hope you like what I came up with! **

**A special thanks to FallingInHate for your vehement approval! **

**As always, I don't own a damn thing on this page! I'm just trying to share my love of a good story.**

* * *

Jayne's boots crunched in the gold-red dirt as he walked around Serenity checking off the pre-flight list mentally as he went. He paced around to the cargo bay door, looked up at a small noise coming from the hillside and stopped dead in his tracks.

River and that Sherlock guy were walking down the side of the hill toward the ships, talking and smiling like they were best buddies. Jayne felt suddenly angry. His neck grew hot as he watched them meander down the hill and stroll across the red clay and hard-scrabble field.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Jayne startled and whipped his head around to face The Doctor who had sneaked up beside him and was commenting on River's choice of lover. "What's wrong, ol' chap?"

"Nuthin." Jayne growled and watched River take Sherlock's arm as they walked up the ramp into the cargo bay. "It's just... Nuthin."

"Oh, I'm sure." The Doctor said. Jayne wasn't convinced The Doctor meant he was sure about it being nothing. "Well! It's almost time for us to be off. I'm going to find Mal..."

"Nice to know, Doc." Jayne interrupted and turned to walk into Serenity's cargo bay. He thought better of it and turned back around when he caught sight of River and Sherlock smiling and chit-chatting with their heads together.

He stormed off around the ship again, found that nothing actually needed to be done outside so he walked to the top of the nearest hill to throw rocks at bushes on the other side.

}~

River finished saying goodbye to Sherlock and watched him pull the door to the TARDIS closed behind him. She said a silent farewell to her sexy blue friend as her engines started to throb against the breaking mechanisms and her blue walls started to fade away.

River turned toward the hill where Jayne was still abusing the local flora, heaved a labored sigh and went to confront him.

"So they're gone..." Jayne didn't even turn to look at her when he spoke.

"Yes." River waited a few heartbeats before continuing. "What was all that about?"

"I don't know what ya mean."

"Yes you do." River sharpened her tone and he looked at her. If she hadn't been able to read him, the look in his eyes would have scared her.

"It's... Nuthin."

"A whole lot of 'Nuthin'." She mocked him.

"Dammit, River!" He stopped tossing stones. "Leave it be."

"No." River let herself be upset. "You want things to be like this. We're simply friends. I am not going to put myself in stasis just so I don't hurt your feelings."

"I don't wanna talk about it." Jayne growled. His eyes were intense, boring into hers.

"No, you don't." River agreed bitterly. "You're embarrassed about what happened with me. I don't want to embarrass you any more than necessary, but it's going to happen if you keep acting like this." She turned to walk away.

"River..." He grabbed at her arm, but she pulled it out of his grasp before he could close his hand. "Dammit, girl! Wait!"

She continued walking, back straight, gait stiff, forcing herself to walk even though she just wanted to fall right there and curl into a ball of hurt.

He went after her and caught up as she reached the ship. She still wouldn't stop so, without thinking about it, he slung his arm around her waist in mid-stride and picked her up off the ground. He was the only person she had ever met who could act without thinking about it at all, so she had no warning before her feet were dangling a foot above the ground.

"Gorram-it, Stop!" He cursed at her when she kicked him in the shin. "Look. I know I ain't got rights to ya. For some reason that don't seem ta make much difference in my head."

She fought to calm herself down, so he took her stillness as encouragement to continue.

"I dunno what you want from me and I dunno what to make of all this..." He set her on her feet again, "Just, I don't like watchin you get all cozy with someone else."

"I don't think you have any choice, Jayne." Her tone was simple and calm but she laced enough venom into her words that Jayne was almost physically hurt. She brushed by him, 'accidentally' stomping on his foot as she passed. It probably would have hurt him more if she had been wearing her boots... Oh well, it's the thought that counts; right?

She stormed into the cargo bay, passing Simon who stopped groping Kaylee long enough to ask his sister what was wrong. River didn't answer him, she just continued walking. In the corridor Mal asked if she knew where Jayne had gotten to and she made a face at him. Mal looked baffled for a moment before he he rolled his eyes, shook his head and told her to nevermind and get the ship ready for take-off. She continued to the cockpit and collapsed herself into the comfort of her copilot's seat where she shook herself and re-collected her wits by immersing herself in the simplicity of cold mechanical operations.

}~

Take off was as smooth as it usually was, but River was unusually captivated by the piloting operations.

"Hey there, Little Albatros, is there something going on?" He asked when they were out into the black once more, "I know it ain't my business, but you seem... I don't know... less distractable than normal."

"You are very astute, Captain." She got out of her seat and walked away, down the corridor, without actually answering him.

"Huh..." Mal grunted in bewilderment, then turned back to his console to set the coordinates for the auto pilot.

}~

As Serenity gracefully lifted away from the atmosphere of the dry little moon, another ship rounded the satellite to follow her at a distance. It was not a large, or well-kept, or well powered ship but it followed Serenity with a hungry determination.

* * *

**Well, well, well... what DO we have here? Tune in next time for a few surprises! ;D**

**Don't forget to follow and comment!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this has taken so long! One more chapter & it's done! Just in time for NaNoWriMo too!**

**Thanks to everyone for your generous support!**

**I don't own any of these titles. Don't even think I'm delusional! lol**

* * *

The sound of River's screeching voice bouncing off the bulkheads wasn't a new one, but it hadn't been heard in so long that it brought everyone running.

Kaylee followed a split second after Simon up the ladder to her quarters that they now shared but she didn't stop with him at River's quarters. She ran directly into the engine room, knowing that the last time her sister-in-law had screamed like _that_ there had been Reevers. Reevers, rightfully, scared the daylights out of Kaylee.

She started pulling levers and flipping switches to warm up the emergency generators for added power in case they needed to goose the drive engine.

"Kaylee!" Mal's voice came over the com.

"I'm on it Mal!" She yelled into the open connection. Years ago she had rigged it to stay open whenever the bridge was calling since it was the job of three engineers to run the drives, but there was never more than her.

"Right!" He wasn't surprised. "There's a ship hot on our tail and I wanna shake 'em."

"You got it, Mal!" She grunted as she threw another lever. "Everythin's warmin up!"

The ship shuddered and a string of foul curses filtered through the com before there was an audible click delineating the com disconnect.

The ship shuddered again, more violently and Kaylee got ready for rapid maneuvers.

}~

River had woken from the vivid nightmare already screaming. Her voice was hoarse and there was sweat dripping from every pore on her body.

She hadn't fallen asleep in her quarters, since she had curled up in one of her hidey-holes to evade Mal and Jayne. They were both determined to talk to her but she wasn't ready to talk to anyone just yet. Now she was crying and screaming in her safe place and it felt violated. There had been Reevers in her dreams; they had come for her, covered her, converted her...

She screamed again, this time in surprise when someone touched her foot. She had been so absorbed in her fear that she hadn't felt Jayne's approach. She jerked her foot toward her body, resisting the urge to kick him in the face. He had squeezed himself into the electrical access tube to reach her and now he just sat there panting, wide-eyed with worry. There was just barely enough room for him to sit up, but he was hunched over in a posture that looked painful.

"Come on, girl..." He half-cooed at her, "Come back outa here."

River didn't answer him, she just twisted in her place so she could reach out to him. She crawled over to him, tears still streaming down her face. He flinched a little when she touched him but relaxed when she crawled into his lap and curled up again. She buried her face in his chest and felt him wrap his arms around her, enveloping her completely.

"River?!" She heard Simon call her, but she didn't move.

Jayne cleared his throat, "Up here!" the words sounded odd coming through his chest cavity.

"Can you get her down?" Simon's muffled voice sounded worried.

"Prob'ly," Jayne replied, "Just give 'er a minute. She's perty scared."

The hungry wave of hate and lust thrust into her skull again and she screamed into Jayne's shoulder. His arms held her tighter to him and he kissed the top of her head.

"Shhh..." He wasn't very good at comforting people, but she could feel his genuine concern. "We gotta get ya outa here, baby-girl..." She took in his spicy aroma in a couple shuddering breaths then sniffed and nodded.

She leaned back a little to look at his face; it was smeared with dust and grease from him crawling through the tube and creased with worry lines. She kissed him on his stubbly cheek then slid out of his arms and slithered down the tube and out of the access hatch. Jayne was right behind her and she was actually a little surprised at how agile he truly was. She grabbed the safety bar and swung out, dropping down onto the floor grating silently with Jayne still right behind her. He landed loudly and with much less grace than her, but it was a solid landing and he didn't lose his balance or stumble.

Simon had just pulled her into a hug when the whole ship rocked with an impact. She shoved him away and was down the hall, running toward the cockpit before the second impact hit.

Mal turned his head in her direction as she swung into her seat and fastened the straps over her slim body.

"You alright, there?" He asked her wearily.

"Yes." She replied, bluntly. She felt a burst of dismay from him and relented just a little. "It was just a bad dream."

"This ain't no dream, Albatross." He grunted as he manhandled the yoke into submission.

River flipped the switches that activated a mechanism to eject the reflective powder that would confuse many of the sensor and targeting systems. The ship lurched again and grew suddenly cold by a few degrees. River checked the display.

"We've lost the primary and aft buffer panels." She reported to the captain.

"Yeah!" He barked, "I know." He kept grumbling under his breath but River was tuning everything except guiding the ship out of her mind. When they were under attack, it was her job to complete the evasive maneuvers because many times she could sense were the opposing ship was targeting and make sure that their ship wasn't in the right spot at the wrong time.

"Mal, the cargo bay is freezin up!" Jayne's voice came from directly behind her. He had his hand on the back of her seat and was leaning over watching her work.

"I _know!_" Mal snapped, then looked up at Jayne. "Jayne! Back up off that girl before she rips a piece offa ya!"

"Uh, right." Jayne backed up but stumbled and fell into the jump-seat as the Reaver ship hit them again. He shrugged and strapped in right there.

Red lights and warning klaxons started making an awful racket and Jayne slapped the control that sealed off the cargo bay. The last impact had blown a hole in the hull that was leaking their atmosphere.

The ship was now vibrating and there were multiple alarms going off from different places all over the ship.

"This looks like the last stand, folks!" Mal yelled into the general com.

Suddenly the ship went dead quiet. The vibration stopped; the decompression alarms quieted and the controls stopped responding, going lax.

"Wut, tha..." Jayne muttered to no one in particular.

* * *

**Read, Review, Repeat!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The very last of this sotory! I hope you enjoyed it!**

* * *

"_ATTENTION, PLEASE!_" Came a familiar voice from the com speakers. "_Will the owners of a silver-and-rust coloured Firefly, designation Serenity, docked in cargo bay five-apple-twenty three, please contact the Bridge?_"

Mal mashed the external com button. "What the Sam-_HELL_ is going on here?"

"_Well, sir, your vehicle seems to be leaking several different types of fluid and AH-_" The Doctor's voice cut out for a second, then returned cheerily. "_Yep! Parts are falling onto the decking._"

"Well, of course parts are-" The com clicked, signalling the other end had toggled off so Mal turned to his co-pilot and the Mercenary. "Of course parts are dropping off- _DAMMIT! Stop that!_"

River had unbelted her safety harness, slipped over to Jayne and was now leaned over kissing him. She stopped, when ordered, pecked him on the tip of his nose then nodded and skipped out of the cockpit and down the hall.

Jayne had a dazed half-smile on his face until he turned his head to look at Mal. His dazed look turned wide-eye and the grin turned grim. "I didn't start it, Mal!" He tugged at his safety harness. "See? I can't even get outta here!"

"That looked practiced." Mal growled and pulled a knife from his boot. "Have you been taking advantage of my co-pilot while no one was lookin?"

"Nuh-uh! Are you outta yer gorram mind?" Jayne was pressing himself further into the jumpseat as Mal took slow steps forward. "That there's a full-grown woman trained to _kill me_. While that's hot as hell, even if I managed it, I ain't dumb enough to think you wouldn't! An that brother o' hers would drug me in my sleep. Mal! Please! _SHIT!_" Mal tucked the tip of the knife between the belting and Jayne's T shirt. He had the perverse impulse to cut the garish thing open so Jayne couldn't wear it again. What the hell kinda rabbit was a "Buggs" anyway? And why was it wearing a fez while smoking a cigar?

Instead, he pulled out on the knife, severing the shoulder belts at the buckle then cut the lap connections too. "I've been meaning to replace this..." He hefted the frozen buckle in his hand, tossing it a few inches in the air and catching it firmly, but never taking his eyes off Jayne's.

Jayne gulped and slid out of the seat. "Uh, thanks..." He muttered before he backed out of the cockpit and dashed down the corridor.

He was right about one thing... That girl would kill him. And when she does? Mal would be there to laugh!

}~

Jayne caught up with River just outside of the cargo bay. "Mal liken'a slice me up!"

"Oh, Jayne!" River giggled at him. "He wouldn't risk me being unhappy. Scares the crap out of him when I'm not happy."

"Yeah, he would," Jayne grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. He reached around her to toggle the cargo bay seals back open. "Especially if it means he gets to send me out an airlock."

"You haven't tried to sell me to the Feds in over five years." She pinched his side."I don't think he'll make you walk the plank over a little kiss."

"That weren't no lil kiss!" Jayne could feel his face turning pink.

"It was a little kiss, to blow off steam from the heat of the moment." She turned back toward the cargo bay and reached for the lever to open the bulkhead doors. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from the lever.

"What are you in a rush for?" He was surprised at the nasty tone of his voice, "In a hurry to see your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Her face was blank of emotion except for the fire smoldering hotly in her glare. "Even if I wanted to date him, there would be nothing you could do about it." She pulled her arm out of his grasp and turned toward the door again.

Without thinking, Jayne shot an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to him. He took her by both shoulders and turned her back to face him then planted a solid kiss on her lips. Her lips had been parted, slightly in a surprised gasp, but quickly formed a seal with his. She reached up, threading her fingers through his short hair and grasping the back of his skull to pull him in, closer to her.

I barely registered in Jayne's brain that the cargo bay doors had opened and there was someone watching them. He didn't put the palm of his right hand against the bulkhead and braced his weight against it, leaning down so River didn't have to stretch so much to reach his mouth.

Someone cleared their throat at them but the kiss didn't stop. He felt River draw his gun and point it toward the door. He pushed down on her arm when he heard The Doctor's voice mutter something about being rude.

"Doctor?" Kaylee's voice came from behind and Jayne tried to pull away, but River held onto him. He didn't feel like fighting a trained killer over a kiss so he continued. "Oh, dear..." Kaylee murmured.

The Doctor scooted past them and ushered Kaylee and whoever else back down the hall.

}~

Simon Tam looked up from the mess of broken glass and scattered medical supplies when he heard someone enter the medical bay.

"Ah! Doctor!" He smiled at The Doctor as he, Kaylee and Sherlock carefully walked in the door, stepping around the mess. "I suppose you're the reason we're not floating in space...?" Kaylee came up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, tucking her head into the hollow of his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her body and held her tight. Her hair smelled of metal, engine grease and strawberries.

"What's all this?" The Doctor waved his hand to indicate the mess.

"This is what happens when a ship is attacked." Mal barked as he stepped into the doorway.

"Ah! Captain!" The Doctor greeted him, "Just the man I wanted to see!"

"Really?" Mal glared at him, "You sure picked a funny place to find me!"

"Really!" The Doctor assured him. He walked over to Mal and slung a companionable arm around the surly man, "Now lets talk about your docking arrangements..." Sherlock followed them out and Simon listened to the Doctor chatter at the captain for a bit then reached for his broom.

"Simon..." Kaylee said his name in that small voice she has when she wants to tell him something he won't like. He looked down at her, she was still clinging to him.

"I'm here, babe." He kissed the top of her head. "What's wrong?"

"Well..." She hesitated, he had learned a long time ago that trying to pry it out of her would only make her angry, so he waited. "It's about River... And Jayne."

"Oh?" He felt his body relax. Kaylee pulled her head away from his shoulder and he realised that she wasn't so much holding onto him as preparing to hold him back.

"Yeah." She grimaced, "I saw them kissing..."

"Finally." He sighed, then laughed at his wife's face. "What?"

"You knew?" She let him go and stepped back, scowling.

"River still talks in her sleep, sometimes." He smiled. "I kinda wanted to kill him... for about five minutes. Then I heard her say something, I'll never forget. 'I know you, but I still love you. You can love me, no matter who I am.' It made me think. Maybe she deserves someone who can keep up with her. Just like we have each other..."

"She could have just been awake. Ya know... saying what she knew would make you accept it?" Kaylee started picking up stray containers from the floor.

"Sure, she could." He nodded and began to sweep, "But she's never been afraid to just tell me what she wants. So I don't think she'd take the coward's way out by pretending to talk in her sleep."

He pretended not to notice as River dragged Jayne past the infirmary door toward his cabin. It looks like The Doctor was right; A little meddling never hurt.

* * *

**I'm glad everyone liked this story so much! Please Read & Review! **

**Remember! I'm always open to suggestions... 3 you guys!**


	8. Preview

The thin girl entered the run-down rim planet bar on a breeze that smelled like patchouli and honey. There was no reason to notice her, in fact not many in the packed bar did, but there was just something about the way she moved that caught Riddick's attention.

Her posture wasn't spine straight, graceful elegance like the lady who had glided in just moments before, nor the sure-footed march of the lady's ebony skinned friend... No, this girl moved as if every step from the battered door to the dingy bar stool was part of a dance and the music scored only in her head.

Her movements flowed like water bubbling over stones in a brook and the bald man couldn't seem to keep his dark-goggled eyes off of her, no matter what.

She slapped a fist full of credit notes onto the bar and the grizzled old bar keep actually jumped at the sound.

"Waddle it be?" the keep asked, as if he had anything more than a local brew and whiskey that no one here could afford.

"Beer, please?" She requested politely as she settled her fine frame gingerly onto the open stool next to Riddick.

"Ahh..." The bartender seemed to balk at the youthful sound of her voice.

"Twenty Seven _is_ old enough to drink on this moon, right?" She cut off his protest with a lilt of exasperation and Riddick smiled into his cup.

The keep scooped up her cash and turned to fill a mug for her.

The girl turned toward Riddick, slightly, and looked over her shoulder with a flip of her hair as the barkeep settled a mug of brew on the bar in front of her. She turned her head back so she was fully facing Riddick. He could see the slight smirk as she carefully picked up the mug and lifted it to her lips without looking at it. He expected her to sip at it cautiously so he was rather startled when she locked eyes with him, winked and chugged her drink back in three or four huge gulps.

"Oh, that's not a good idea..." he found himself warning her.

"Gotta." She beamed a bright smile at him. "It would get knocked over in the fight."

"What fight?" He snorted.

Just then a man in a long, red-brown coat was thrown up against the bar between them.

"Might wanna clear out, Li'l Albatross." The man practically giggled in delight, "This one's gonna be a doozie!"

* * *

***Writer grins evily at you***

**You can find more of this in "Flask Full of Kerosene" New story, Same Universe!**


End file.
